Elphaba was trying her hardest to avoid everyone the next day, even if it meant going the long way to classes and hiding from someone in a broom closet. At one despairing point she'd accidently trod in a bucket full of filthy water, and she hadn't been happy. She'd had to sit on her bottom within the broom closet to wrench it off, and then, for she had been very determined, got soaked with the water, and had to walk to her Mathematics class sopping with sudsy water.

She was feeling fed up with the whole situation, not to mention the constant pain in her side, Avaric, whom kept bugging her endlessly to come to his party. Elphaba disliked parties, as she told him countless cases, so she denied each time. It was becoming old, and she was quite ready to snap when he came to her the last time that day.

"Miss Elphaba," he said tiredly, sitting beside her on a bench as she read.

"Avaric," she said sharply, not bothering with the honorific. She seemed to consider him unworthy of it, and was in reality quite just in thinking so.

"Listen, I know you don't want to listen to me talk anymore, but—"

"Just get it over with, Avaric, I'm trying to read my book," Elphaba vaguely sighed. "I really would be keen on to hear you chatter more, though—keep on rambling and maybe you'll strain your lovely voice."

"Don't you think you need a break from all this?" he asked tentatively, and then tossed her an apple.

"What's this?" she asked, and caught the red fruit in her emerald fingers.

"Fruit," he said matter-of-factly. "Grown from the finest apple tree, that was sewn from the richest soils for this magnificent school. And it's yours now. Congratulations."

Elphaba stared at the apple's glossy red skin, and looked up at Avaric. He looked bemused but happy; as if he was sure an apple would convince her to rethink her refusal.

"Why an apple, though?" she said.

"Because you're always eating them, and I haven't seen one in your hand in about an hour, so I supposed that you might want to keep up your schedule. . . ."

Elphaba smiled for a moment, but it quickly turned to a frown. "This doesn't mean I'm coming to your party," she snapped, and gathered her book, holding it to her chest.

"Sure it doesn't," he said. "But I'm sure that you're simply fed up with me. If you say you will come to my party tomorrow night, I'll happily get along with my own life and let you keep to yours."

Elphaba opened her mouth, but Avaric put a finger to her lips, grinning slyly. "Think about it for a while, and then I'll meet you here again tomorrow at noon." He jogged off toward a pretty red-head girl, and Elphaba was left sitting there with a wild scowl. She snorted in disbelief and threw the apple in a nearby bush.

Ten minutes later it was Galinda who distracted her again. The blonde was hurrying up, unusually dressed in a simple frock that was not unlike the ones Elphaba wore, only instead a pretty pale yellow. She seemed slightly frazzled, so Elphaba set down her book to pay proper attention to her panicky roommate.

"Miss Elphaba," she sang. "What do you plan on doing tomorrow tonight?"

"I'm not sure. I may go to a party. . . ."

"Don't do that!" Galinda shouted. "I want to spend some time with you!"

"Miss Galinda, enlighten me, why shouldn't I have control over what I do?" Elphaba was smirking, one eyebrow raised. Galinda was obviously distressed, and she had decided to take advantage of it.

"Because, Miss Elphaba . . . well, simply because I'm afraid that you'll hurt yourself—that's clearly why, don't you see?" Galinda bit her lip, and plopped beside Elphaba on the bench. Perching lightly there, as if she were ready to stand up at a moment's notice, Galinda took one of Elphaba's cold hands in her warm ones. "What if I were to say that going to one of Master Avaric's celebrations wouldn't be the brightest of ideas?"

Elphaba quickly took her hand back, glaring crossly at Galinda. "We both must know that you, Miss Galinda, aren't of the brightest of stars in the sky—so who are you to judge on what is bright or not to do?" Elphaba stood, and brushed off her skirts, searching for things to busy herself. She glanced up at Galinda, whom was watching the other girl calmly, and threw her hands up.

"What do you want with me, Galinda?" said the green girl. "You think that I'll listen to you when you hardly know what's good for yourself? You must think me insane." Slowly, she fetched her book and held it to her chest once more. Then she backed away, turned and walked.

Galinda sighed softly, but didn't follow Elphaba. As an alternative, she too got up, but fled in the opposite direction. She almost ran straight into Milla, who was talking to Boq, but apologized quickly, and hurried on before Boq could begin flirt with her person again.

Where is he? Galinda thought, aggravated. Why did everyone managed to be at the least possible convenience when she needed them most?

Galinda turned the corner unhurriedly, and spotted Avaric instantly, pinning a red-haired girl against the wall and nuzzling her. She walked up to them and waited a moment more before clearing her throat.

Avaric looked up, his eyes wild, from the other girl, whom Galinda recognized her as a not-so-important friend, Arly. The blonde waved merrily at Arly, and became serious again.

"Master Avaric, if you don't mind I'd like to speak to you for a moment. I won't keep you long." Galinda peeked over at Arly again, and couldn't tell whether her friend was staring at her with confusion or jealousy.

"Miss Galinda," Avaric drawled with a smile, "you must wait your turn, dear." Arly took this opportunity to pull Avaric's face toward hers again, and they shared a moment-long kiss, before Galinda poked his shoulder angrily.

"Listen, you toad, I don't want a romance, I want some answers," she sputtered angrily. "I mean, ew, Avaric—did you honestly think . . . ?"

"Alright, alright," Avaric muttered, raising his hands in a classic 'Whoa, Nellie' gesture. "Two minutes. . . ." Arly smiled mischievously behind him, and he turned back toward her.

"No, Master Avaric," Galinda snapped, "now." She got hold of his collar and dragged him off of Arly, who looked undeniably jealous now.

"Eh," Avaric said, grunting. "Feisty, aren't you?" When she let go, he straightened out his shirt, and raised his eyebrows. "Now, what is it, Cupcake?"

"Did Miss Elphaba say she was going to your party, or not?" she demanded.

Avaric glared at Galinda. "That's why you dragged me over here?"

Galinda paused, and then nodded. "Yes, it is, actually. . . ." And for a moment Avaric stared at Galinda, utter disbelief sketched all over his face.

"For your information, Miss Elphaba has been left to think over my proclamation. I'll be meeting her with her tomorrow, if you must know." He stopped talking and quietly looked Galinda over. "Will that be all, Princess?"

Galinda didn't bother to take offense, quickly giving a mini-curtsy, and rushing away again.

Avaric watched her blonde curls bob out of sight, and threw his arms up in exasperation. He was now thoroughly convinced that all blonde women were mad and, with a quick smirk, he admiringly looked in the red-haired Arly's direction.

* * * * *

Boq pushed past the crowd and stooped low to catch his breath. He was so late for class, and he had no excuse; it wasn't early—it was ten O'clock! He hadn't woken up recently; he'd been up since six! So what was he to say? He was a horrible liar. . . .

Boq almost started walking again until he heard a familiar voice; it seemed like one of Galinda's friends, and, oddly enough, they seemed to be talking about Elphaba. He rounded the corner and stood there while the two girls paused right by the other side of the curve. They were talking softer than usual, but he could still make out what was being said.

"So do you think this will work?" one asked, Pfannee. She sounded apprehensive about something, and Boq leaned closer, curious now.

"Of course it will work; we both know that Master Avaric vainly wants her there for some reason, and he's such a charmer. It has to work, so stop being so negatory." That was Shenshen, Boq realized, the girl he had always judged her as the real Queen Bee of all Galinda's friends. Now, hearing her talk like this to Pfannee, Boq was quite sure that she A) actually was the Queen Bee; and B) was confusing negatory with nugatory . . . although it wasn't a reasonable word to describe Pfannee's behavior. . . .

"But Shenshen," Pfannee said, rather dumbly, Boq noticed, "haven't you see this girl? She does get charmed by anyone."

Shenshen ignored her, as if the statement had gone in one ear and out the other. "I simply just cannot wait to put an end to the rumors, and find out exactly what happened to elfie-girl's sister; the curiosity's killing me—"

"Who's Elfie?" another voice asked suddenly, making Boq jump. "E-L-F-I-E, right? I don't believe I know them. . . ."

"Oh, Miss Yaisle, hello!" Pfannee said carelessly, but with added enthusiasm.

"Elfie, what?" Shenshen asked. "Oh, you must mean the green girl—I just said it unthinkingly. Miss Elphaba, you know."

Boq peeked around the corner ever-so-slightly, to see Yaisle, a clearly foreign girl with dark hair and skin, blink in surprise. "Her?"

"Yes, I'm sorry for talking so carelessly—we can take you to lunch, Yaisle." Shenshen yanked Pfannee and the dark-haired girl away down the hall.

It was obvious that Shenshen was trying to keep this all a secret—either that, or she was worried rumors about herself would spring up. He slipped away from the wall and strolled down the middle of the hall.

Boq could still hear them talking as he set off once more, now completely forgotten about his class. The only thing on his mind was: find Elphaba.

Lately, the green girl had expressed her dislike in him, but who was he not to warn her when she needed warning? It would be cruel, let alone impolite, to let her go to a party that she'd be humiliated at. Boq himself hadn't been invited, so it was, although selfish to admit, odd that Elphaba had been.

Boq had met Avaric, and he was more or less acquaintances with him. Elphaba had never met Avaric, as far as Boq knew, so why was there a sudden urge to get her to go to a party? It seemed terribly set up, and Boq was worried for Elphaba, even if she didn't like him very much at that point.

He set off at a slight jog, determined to find Elphaba before she made a decision about whether or not she'd go. If he was lucky, she would be in her dorm. He could only hope, and bearing this in mind, he stuck into the girls' dormitories sneakily.

He already knew where the two girls roomed, although it was rather embarrassing. He'd seen Galinda more than once brushing her soft and silky hair, or in mid-change, to which he'd scurried off, head ducked. Boq was, if anything, a gentleman, and didn't wish to take advantage of Miss Galinda when she had only conveniently forgotten to close her curtains.

After a moment of silent debate, Boq knocked hesitantly on the door. He tried to look innocent, so as to not alarm the blonde—because, as he knew, he technically wasn't allowed to be here. But it was midday, so he hoped that she would realize not many changed or bathed or otherwise at this hour.

Galinda opened the door excitedly, looking slightly flushed, stared downward, and sighed. "Yes, Master Boq? Please, make it quick. You're not supposed to be here, and I'm waiting for my roommate, who would happily boot you out. . . ." As she spoke, Galinda peered down the hall, seeming to wish that by any chance Miss Elphaba would suddenly appear.

"Galinda," Boq said suddenly. Galinda twisted her head back toward him, obviously astounded by the harsh tone of which he spoke to her. "Miss Galinda, I know you think that I'm here to visit you but (and although I know it is rude to say so) I'm not." Galinda, looking startled, didn't say anything, so he continued. "I'm here because I desperately need to talk to Miss Elphaba, but since I see that she's not here, I suppose I should leave."

Boq turned to stomp away, but Galinda put her hand on his shoulder. "Last time I saw he she was in the courtyard," she said quietly.

"Thank you," he said back, and nodded. "Good day, Miss Upland."

* * * * *

Elphaba decided to head back to the courtyard when she decided it was safe. Sitting down again about twenty minutes later, Elphaba opened up her book and tried to relax. She found that she actually had ten minutes to read before Boq found her.

"Miss Elphaba!" he gasped.

Elphaba slammed her book angrily on the bench. "Oz knows I can't have an hour of peace!"

"Miss Elphaba," Boq repeated, ignoring her statement, "You can't go to Avaric's party! Listen, I heard—"

"Oh, shut up!" she said loudly, and everyone looked at her. "I've heard nothing all day except that party—can't anyone see that I'm sick of it!"

Boq looked slightly taken aback, but continued, "Elphaba! Listen, all I'm saying is to stay away from there!"

Elphaba glared at him darkly, and he shrank back. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't, Master Boq. But that is my decision and mine alone, as everyone else has seemed to forget." And, with that she left the courtyard for the second time that day, and hushed whispers echoed through the air.